I have, for some reason, found it almost impossible to blog about the actual goings on in my life lately. I think I just wanted to soak up what could possibly be my last summer vacation ever (!!) without worrying blogging. (Not that I don’t enjoy writing about myself.) Now that I’m back in Boston once again, about to get into the groove of my last semester of college ever (!!!), I feel I should probably write about this past week, if only for my own memory (and to appease my dad who keeps asking about why I haven’t written about our trip yet.)

So two weeks ago (two weeks? I almost wrote one week, that is how much I’ve lost track of time and my life..) I got on the Plymouth Brockton Bus to Hyannis, MA (that’s in Cape Cod) to meet my parents. My mom attended a fitness conference to get certified to teach fitness classes, while my dad and I explored the town, rating each day on our cleverly devised Awesome Scale. We ate at a British Pub, various seafood joints, a Mediterranean restaurant, and drank wine with the other guests at the little Inn/Bed and Breakfast where we stayed. We took a 20 mile bike ride on the Rails to Trails bike trail, went to see Tropic Thunder, and wandered down to the beach with my mom’s dog, Sookie. We watched Michael Phelps win his 8th gold medal on the only TV in the Inn, located in the dining room in the main building (we were staying in the annex) and talked to the other guests at the Inn, who surprisingly, seemed to love their dogs as much as my mom loves hers, which I later learned stemmed from the fact that this Inn is the only place in town that allows dogs. It was really relaxing and nice to spend more time with my dad than I have, probably, since I left for college. Various pictures taken with my new 35mm camera (purchased for my photography class) can be found here.

Upon arriving back in Wilmington, I set out to get done the things I can’t (or can’t afford to) do in Boston. First up, getting a tetanus shot, as my school registration was blocked when mine expired. (Annoyingly enough, I was not notified of this when it happened and wouldn’t have known if I hadn’t gotten on to change gym classes. I would have just been denied entrance to my apartment when I arrived in Boston! Thanks, university! :/ ) This was sadly more difficult than it would have been for normal people, as I don’t have a doctor, since my parents moved while I was in college, and could not just pop in and out of the office. I, thus, had to go to a walk-in clinic, wait for two hours, be told that they didn’t, in fact, give tetanus shots to non-emergency cases (even though my mom had called and asked the day before and been assured that they DID give tetanus shots to people like me), beg them to give me one because PLEASE I HAVE NO WHERE ELSE TO GO, and then actually get my shot. Success! Kind of…

The next day, I headed to the NJ/Philadelphia area to hang out with some of my best friends from school, two of whom live very close to my parents and three of whom had come down to visit in a miracle of timing. We hung out on South Street and visited the Magic Gardens. I have to say, if you are ever in Philadelphia, GO TO THIS GARDEN. The name sounds crazy, but it really does seem magical. It’s an amazing feet of mosaic making. We had a little too much fun, spending hours taking photos in awkward and oddly serious poses, to the mild discomfort of those around us. (All with my friend Jenn’s new XSI. Me=jealous) After the Magic Garden, we wandered into a comic book store where Jenn, Lauren and I discovered this gem of a comic: It was part of some sort of series about tragic love “ripped from the pages of real life,” basically, romance novel comics. Every cover features at least one woman crying. This one was probably our favorite:

I haven’t laughed so hard in a while. We then went to eat at the deli I went to with my parents in July. I was almost as full as last time. After Philly, and after a midly frightening car ride where we sped a little too fast down curvy, hilly roads with my friend Mike riding in the trunk of the SUV, we got to Lauren’s house and decided to play “Men are From Mars, Woman are from Venus.” Again, I must urge every to play this game. I think it is supposed to stir up controversy between the sexes, but my friends are so awesome, we woud just answer the questions then all talk about how great of an answer everyone gave. We decided the five of us left would make an amazing group couple. Basically, thoughout the day, I realized how much I missed my friends over the summer, because it really was one of the best times I’d had in a while.

The rest of the week was a blur of shopping with my mom, getting my hair cut, vegging out, crying over the end of the Olympics (What will I do during the day now that I can’t flip back and forth between equestrian jumping and rhythmic gymnastics!?) and freaking out over my computer possibly dying. (No worries. The Genius’s at the Mac store fixed it up.)

Tuesday, I left with my dad for Boston. We, of course, spent lots of time discussing politics, as my dad is a mild conservative who likes to act like a staunch conservative to bug the crap out of me. (He made me listen to SEAN HANNITY for THREE HOURS [!!!!!] on the car ride back from Hyannis. If I had heard ONE MORE PERSON call up and say “Sean, you are a great American,” I was going to take my own life. My dad then laughed when I asked how he could listen to that crap, saying “I never listen to that. Are you kidding me?” Funny Dad, really funny…) When we got into Boston, we headed to my summer apartment, loaded up the rest of the my stuff, then headed out to dinner at my favorite restaurant, Picco in the South End, which stands for Pizza and Ice Cream, Co. How could that not be good?

Wednesday, I moved in, hung out with my uncle and cousins, said good-bye to my dad, then went out for my friend Jackie’s birthday with some friends from my sorority and Birthright. Again, it was nice to see everyone who I missed over the summer.

Thursday was intense apartment shopping day, at the end of which, I got to relax with Jenn and Josh while watching “High School Musical” (which Jenn had never seen!) and Obama’s speech: the ultimate awesome combination. (My favorite moment from the night may have been the text from my sister telling me she was drinking an Obamapolitan on the Baracks. Amazing. These are the reasons he should be president…)

Today, I’m back at work. I had my interview for the job. The actual interview went well, but there may be a sang with the whole me going to Australia for three weeks at one of the busiest times of the year thing, which obviously, is a non-negotiable situation. No job is worth me missing the chance to go to Australia with two of my best friends. I’m only young once, right? (MUCH more is coming on this topic, as it is getting SO CLOSE I CAN TASTE IT!) As I said before though, the interview went well enough, and the HR rep said she likes promoting from within, and that there are definitely ways to work around my schedule. As ever, I really have no preference for which was this goes. If I get it, it will be hard to do the job and classes and EVERYTHING, but it will ensure me having a job come January. If it don’t, I’m going to have an amazing last semester of college, and hopefully, I’ll find a job eventually. I guess fate will decide for me. I kind of prefer it that way.

And now that my hands are numb from typing, I feel like I can now continue posting at a regular pace (and legnth…) Up next, a meme sent to me from the lovely Melissa (my mom sent your brownies yesterday! Sadly, sans note, because I am the loser who forgot to write one before I left…), and details of my upcoming journey down under (aka to Australia…if that wasn’t obvious…ok, I’ll shut up now.)